


The Wolf Bird

by okapi



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Animals, Gen, Raven!Sherlock, Wolf!John
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-26
Updated: 2014-03-28
Packaged: 2018-01-17 03:05:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1371580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okapi/pseuds/okapi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raven!Sherlock & Wolf!John, inspired by <a href="http://ama-ar-gi.tumblr.com/post/75472172919/the-raven-is-sometimes-known-as-the-wolf-bird">this post</a> about raven and wolf behavior.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [potterwholocked](https://archiveofourown.org/users/potterwholocked/gifts).



The wolf knew that she would not see the spring.

She was tired and weak and alone. With her waning strength, she burrowed a shallow space for herself on the side of a ridge. New snow was falling, forming a white wall around her.

Hunters had killed her entire pack and left her hobbling. The wound in her front leg had healed, but the rear leg—that had no wound that she could see or smell—still throbbed, day and night. She limped, and a limping wolf was no wolf at all: it was a slow-moving carcass. Unable to hunt large prey, she had subsisted on small rodents for many weeks. Her gaunt frame trembled with hunger and cold.

She put her muzzle between her rear legs and covered her face with her tail and slept.

She woke, startled from a nightmare of bullets and desperate howls. A black shiny spot appeared in the white wall of snow. It grew larger and larger…

_Ouch!_

When the flurry of white and black stilled, she saw the head of a large black raven, peering at her, almost _interestedly_. It pecked at her.

_Ouch!_

_The silly creature thought she was already dead and had come for the pickings!_

She barked and bared her teeth, snapping at the bird. It fluttered backwards, and the snow wall fell around them.

They stared at each other.

_Kraa-kraa! Kraa-kraa!_

The wolf considered eating the bird, but after closer scrutiny, the scrawny specimen would probably provide little more sustenance than the voles and mice she’d been surviving on until now.

_Kraa-kraa! Kraa-kraa!_

The wolf ignored the raven’s cries and turned her back on it, curling up resignedly. It pecked at her one last time, and she gave a half-hearted snarl. The bird flew away.

 

 

_Ugh!_

Something bit at her back. The wolf twisted and saw the raven had returned. It was hopping, excitedly.

_Kraa-kraa! Kraa-kraa!_

It dropped something dark on the white snow. The wolf smelt it, warily. It was deer fur, and there was blood on it. The wolf’s stomach groaned.

_Kraa-kraa! Kraa-kraa!_

The wolf rose to her feet and shook off the snow. The raven hopped, and the wolf followed slowly. At one point, the raven stopped and approached the wolf. It tilted its head, studying her back leg. The wolf tensed and whined as the raven ran its beak up and down the leg, but remained motionless. Then, the raven resumed its hopping.

They soon reached a steep ravine. At the bottom, the wolf could see a deer trapped under a heavy limb. She scanned the area for other predators, but could see none. The promise of a good meal made her blood sing. But how to get down the steep slope?

The raven fluttered its wings. The wolf followed carefully as the raven hopped down the gradient. Half-way down, the wolf stopped, whining. She licked at her back leg. Pain clouded her senses.

The raven squawked impatiently.

_Kraa-kraa! Kraa-kraa!_

The wolf breathed deeply and continued. By the time they reached the deer, she was bathed in sweat from exertion and pain. Excitement, however, soon overtook her. She made her kill, biting the deer’s neck, and ripped the body apart with her teeth. She feasted. Absorbed in her feeding, she did not even notice the raven, jumping around her, nipping tidbits with its beak. The wolf fell back, almost sated, and spotted a choice piece of heart. She reached for it with her snout and…

_Whoosh!_

The raven stood away from the kill, hopping, with the meat dangling from its beak. _Silly creature!_ The wolf growled and lunged after it, and the raven moved further up the slope. They played the game of tag all the way up the incline. Then, the raven flew a short distance and stopped. Tentatively, the wolf trotted toward it. Then, the raven spread its wing and _flew_. The wolf ran slowly at first and then with full strides, keeping the bird in her sights the whole time. Finally, the raven landed in a rocky area. It looked at the wolf with tilted head. It swallowed the meat in its beak with a flourish.

_Kraa-kraa! Kraa-kraa!_

And then disappeared.

The wolf approached the spot where the bird had been, puzzled, and saw a small hole in the snow. Then, a black shiny point appeared.

_Kraa-kraa! Kraa-kraa!_

The wolf gingerly pressed the area with her paw and a curtain of snow fell, revealing an opening in the rock. She squeezed through the opening.

The wolf’s bark echoed through the cave. The large space was warm and dry. It was cluttered with twigs of every shape and size, shiny round pebbles, and objects that the wolf did not recognize, but smelt of humans.

_Toc-toc-toc! Toc-toc-toc!_

The raven hopped to the back of the cave and began, almost nervously, picking up twigs and putting them into piles. It became clear that it was making a wolf-sized space among the debris. The wolf used her tail to sweep the area clean. The raven approached the wolf, hesitantly, and ran its beak along her back leg. The wolf yelped when she realized she had not felt any pain during their entire journey from the kill. She flexed her leg. No pain. She yipped and ran in small circles.

_Toc-toc-toc! Toc-toc-toc!_

The wolf curled up in the space prepared and thumped her tail. The raven hopped over to a dense ring of twigs. Propped on one side of the nest was _the skull of another raven_.

The wolf whined in inquiry.

_Toc-toc-toc! Toc-toc-toc!_

The raven tilted its head back and forth and sat on the nest, chirping to the skull, pushing a round rock back and forth with its beak.

The wolf closed her eyes pondered all the changes the day had brought. She slept a dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The wolf stirred to a skittering sound. With half-opened eyes, she watched the raven pick up twigs in its beak and place them in a pile. The pile grew into a carefully-constructed tower, taller than the raven itself. The wolf raised her head and barked softly. The raven’s back was to her, and it startled. The tower crumbled; twigs scattered.

_Toc-toc-toc!_

The raven squawked. It ruffled its feathers. It hopped over to the wolf and bit her tail. The wolf growled and swatted at it with her paw. The bird hopped to the entrance of the cave.

_Toc-toc-toc!_

The wolf rose to her feet and stretched her legs. The pain in her leg had not returned. She followed the raven out of the cave, eager to test her restored strength and explore the new surroundings.

The first order of business was to mark her territory, the area around the cave. With that accomplished, she walked amidst the snow and, then, ran. The sun felt glorious on her fur. The brisk wind, that had so sapped her energy the day before, spurred her on. The raven circled above.

The wolf climbed to the top of a hill. When she reached the apex, the raven landed beside her. Together, they looked down at the forested valley.

_Toc-toc-toc!_

The raven opened its wings and sprung into the air. It made aerobatic loops over the valley floor, twisting and turning, swooping and soaring. Its iridescent plumage shone purple in the sunlight. The wolf watched. The raven settled beside the wolf. It tilted its head back and forth.

_Toc-toc-toc!_

The wolf wagged her tail, and the bird _preened_.

_Toc-toc-toc!_

The raven launched itself forward and slid on its belly down the hill, calling.

_Kraa-kraa! Kraa-kraa!_

The wolf tumbled after the bird. When they reached the bottom, both animals shook the snow from their bodies. Then, the raven bit the wolf’s tail. The wolf growled and leapt at the bird. The raven launched into the air and flew a short distance. It called to the wolf.

_Kraa-kraa!_

The wolf gave chase. They played catch-me-if-you-can into the forest.

The pair explored the woods together. The raven investigated every hole and outcropping. They came across a black shiny object that smelt of humans. The wolf whined and backed away, but the raven approached it and pecked. Suddenly, a light shone from the object. The raven twittered excitedly. It pecked again, and the light disappeared. The raven picked the object up by one thin end and flew away.

The wolf’s ears twitched as she heard—and then smelt—a deer. She was not hungry, but the prospect of hunting anew called to her. And, a surplus kill would be good insurance for the winter. She pointed her eyes, ears, and nose in the direction of the deer and began to stalk.

_Toc-toc-toc!_

She turned her head and spotted the raven some distance away. It was pecking at the ground, getting closer and closer to a human object that looked like a shiny mouth with sharp teeth. The wolf raced toward the scene, barking in alarm. She knocked the raven away an instant before the sharp teeth sprung tight. The teeth caught a fallen twig, snapping it in two.

The wolf whined. The raven stared at the wolf. It gave a deep, resonant cry.

_Prruk-prruk-prruk!_

The wolf wagged her tail. Then, she stilled. _The deer!_ The wolf moved silently, following signals from her nose and ears, until she saw her prey. The gap between them closed; the wolf quickened her pace and peered intently. Then, the deer spotted her and fled. The wolf chased her prey, muscles flexed, senses heightened, lungs burning.

She was _alive!_

She realized that the pursuit was leading her back toward the cave. With a burst of speed, she overtook the deer, bringing it down. The raven appeared.

_Kraa-kraa!_

The raven hopped around the kill. The wolf wagged her tail, panting.

Then, she threw her head back and howled.

The wolf dragged the carcass to the entrance of the cave. She ate her fill. A light went on and off in the cave, and she heard the raven making low rattling noises inside. Finally, the wolf returned and laid down in her place at the back of the cave.

The raven stopped its pecking and settled in its nest.

Then, it opened its beak and _sang_ , a beautiful song unlike any the wolf had ever heard. The music told a story of bravery and brilliance, of flying and chasing, of the raven and the wolf. The wolf whined and thumped her tail. She closed her eyes, lowered her head, and listened.

When silence descended on the cave, the raven was nestled at the wolf’s side, in her warm fur. The raven cried softly.

_Prruk-prruk-prruk!_

The wolf curled her tail around the raven, and they slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
